What Is an Accountant? The term accountant refers to a professional who performs accounting functions such as account analysis, auditing, or financial statement analysis. Accountants work with accounting firms or internal account departments with large companies. They may also set up their own, individual practices. After meeting state-specific educational and testing requirements, these professionals are
What Is the Accountants’ Index? The Accountants’ Index is a collection of articles, books, and other materials of interest to accounting professionals. The Index is released by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), which publishes new material on a quarterly and annual basis. The purpose of the Accountants’ Index is to keep accounting
What Is an Accountant’s Opinion? An accountant’s opinion is a statement written by an independent certified accountant expressing its view regarding the quality of information contained in a set of financial reports. For audits in the United States, the opinion may be unqualified, qualified or adverse. Judgments vary and are based on how much a
What Is an Account Balance? An account balance is the amount of money present in a financial repository, such as a savings or checking account, at any given moment. The account balance is always the net amount after factoring in all debits and credits. An account balance that falls below zero represents a net debt—for
What Is an Account Executive? An account executive is an employee who is primarily responsible for an ongoing business relationship with a client. Account executives are most commonly found in advertising, public relations, and financial services. In addition, technology companies that provide hardware and software support services assign account executives to significant customers. Key Takeaways
What Is an Account Freeze? An account freeze is an action taken by a bank or brokerage that prevents some transactions from occurring in the account. Typically, any open transactions will be canceled, and checks presented on a frozen account will not be honored. However, the account holder can still deposit money into the account.
What Is an Account History? An account history is a running record of all of the financial transactions logged in a bank, credit card, or investment statement. In a bank or credit card statement, the account history records all credits and debits. In a statement from a broker, it records all purchases and sales of
What Is Accounting? Accounting is the process of recording financial transactions pertaining to a business. The accounting process includes summarizing, analyzing, and reporting these transactions to oversight agencies, regulators, and tax collection entities. The financial statements used in accounting are a concise summary of financial transactions over an accounting period, summarizing a company’s operations, financial
What Is Accounting Insolvency? Accounting insolvency refers to a situation where the value of a company’s liabilities exceeds the value of its assets. Accounting insolvency looks only at the firm’s balance sheet, deeming a company “insolvent on the books” when its net worth appears negative. Also known as technical insolvency, a company can have the
What Is Accounting Changes and Error Correction? Accounting changes and error correction refers to guidance on reflecting accounting changes and errors in financial statements. It outlines the rules for correcting and applying changes to financial statements, which includes requirements for the accounting for, and reporting of, a change in accounting principle, a change in accounting
